Chris Pavlovski, the founder and CEO of Rumble, declared that he had “abandoned Europe” following the arrest of Telegram’s CEO by French police, which he claimed “posed a threat” to the video-sharing platform.
The CEO and founder of Rumble, a YouTube alternative that identifies itself as “immune to cancel culture,” has announced that he has “departed” from Europe in response to the arrest of Pavel Durov, the CEO of the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
He alleges that France had “crossed a red line” by arresting Telegram’s Durov and had “threatened Rumble.” According to Rumble, the French government requested that it eliminate “certain Russian news sources” in November 2022, and the company responded by blocking access to French users. Rumble stated that it would challenge the request legally.
In May, Pavlovski also asserted that Russia had blocked Rumble because it “refused to comply with their censorship demands.”
Pavlovski wrote, “We are currently litigating in the French courts and are optimistic about Pavel Durov’s imminent release.”
He refrained from disclosing his current location or the country from which he had departed. Upon receiving a request for comment, Rumble did not respond immediately.
Based in Florida and Ontario, Rumble is a video-sharing platform. It is renowned for its more lenient content moderation policies in comparison to larger social media companies such as Meta and Google, and it has garnered a substantial following, particularly among conservative users.
The French judicial police issued a warrant for the arrest of Durov, a Russian-born French citizen, at Paris–Le Bourget Airport on August 24 following a preliminary investigation, according to numerous news outlets.
According to reports, the police investigation is particularly concentrated on Telegram’s purported failure to cooperate with law enforcement and its lack of moderation for offenses on its platform, which include child sexual abuse content, drug trafficking, fraud, and terrorism.
Telegram stated in a statement that it adheres to the laws of the European Union and that its moderation is “consistently improving and within industry standards.”
It further stated that nearly one billion users rely on Telegram as a source of “vital information,” and it was “absurd to assert that a platform or its proprietor are accountable for the platform’s abuse.”
French authorities have yet to issue a public statement regarding Durov’s detention; however, they are anticipated to do so on Monday, August 26.
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